Trump’s Angry Tweet over Report Of NFL’s New Anthem Plan: ‘That’s Almost as Bad as Kneeling!’

Amid reports that the NFL is considering keeping teams inside the locker rooms during the playing of the national anthem next year, President Donald Trump tweeted Wednesday that such an action by the league “is almost as bad as kneeling!”

Trump also took aim at NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in his tweet, questioning when Goodell will “finally get tough and smart?”

“The NFL is now thinking about a new idea — keeping teams in the Locker Room during the National Anthem next season,” Trump tweeted. “That’s almost as bad as kneeling! When will the highly paid Commissioner finally get tough and smart? This issue is killing your league!”

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The NFL is now thinking about a new idea – keeping teams in the Locker Room during the National Anthem next season. That’s almost as bad as kneeling! When will the highly paid Commissioner finally get tough and smart? This issue is killing your league!…..

Trump was likely referring to a Tuesday report in The Washington Post stating that NFL owners have considered an off-season change to the league’s anthem policy that would include keeping teams in their respective locker rooms during the national anthem ceremony.

“I think that if players are still kneeling at the end of the year, then it could very well happen,” said one person familiar with the owners’ discussions regarding anthem-related issues.

Such a change would be a return to the NFL’s previous policy regarding the national anthem, according to Bleacher Report.

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“Players did not typically stand on the sideline for the national anthem until 2009, when the NFL changed its policy to bring the teams out before ‘The Star-Spangled Banner,'” ESPN reported.

In 2009, the NFL made it league policy for players and coaches to be on the sidelines while the national anthem is played, suggesting that they stand for the song, though there is no requirement to do so.

The sideline protests by NFL players began in 2016 when former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem to protest racial inequality and police brutality in the United States.

Trump continues to voice his opposition to the protests during the national anthem by NFL players, as well as the league’s ongoing responses to the issue.

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The president first weighed in on the protests during an Alabama rally in September, saying, “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a b**** off the field right now. Out. He’s fired! He’s fired!'”

Trump’s remarks led to an increase in player protests that included other high profile players such as Marshawn Lynch and Eric Reid.

Trump has argued that kneeling during the anthem is disrespectful, and claims that the players’ protests and the NFL’s reaction to them are responsible for the league’s decline in ticket sales and viewership.

The president suggested in a late September tweet that “NFL fans” should “refuse to go to games” until the protests by players stopped.

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If NFL fans refuse to go to games until players stop disrespecting our Flag & Country, you will see change take place fast. Fire or suspend!